The present invention relates to a system and method for creating interactive events.
Interactive entertainment has existed for several years in the forms of video games and computer games. Using the Internet, users can compete in multi-player games using computers and Web-enabled consoles. The fast penetration of the Internet into the majority of U.S. households has provided a sudden increase of interactive content and the ability for end-users to interact, and has promoted the popularity of interactive Internet programming for education and entertainment.
Interactive Internet programming is applicable in a variety of markets, such as the interactive entertainment market. Currently, interactive entertainment is delivered either via the TV with side-by-side personal computer (“enhanced broadcasting”) or the personal computer alone (“online interactive entertainment”). Enhanced broadcasting, providing data that supplements a video broadcast, enables consumers to purchase products or request product information (e.g., literature, coupons, or sample merchandise), access additional information (e.g. news, sports, or weather), or otherwise interact with television programming (e.g. TV game shows or polls). Enhanced broadcasting can be provided solely over the television; in a simple form, enhancement may include closed captioning, but there are other methods by which a user can get additional information over the TV and interact, e.g. through a remote control.
Due to the market penetration of the personal computer, a significant amount of interactive entertainment is delivered via the personal computer. As the penetration of broadband Internet connectivity increases and platform development continues, interactive entertainment may migrate to the TV with a web-enabled television, a set-top box, or an Internet-connected console. Additionally, some interactive programming, such as simple game applications, may be available on handheld devices via the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and on future Internet devices.
The likely convergence of television and the Internet, and the growing demand for interactive entertainment, has created a need for interactive programming that encourages the evolution of entertainment from passive television to the types of interactive entertainment that will be possible once broadband Internet access and digital television are ubiquitous.